


Nautica Blue

by Cres



Category: markiplier - Fandom
Genre: Gen, How Do I Tag, I Don't Even Know, I'm Sorry, Kisses
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-24
Updated: 2016-06-24
Packaged: 2018-07-17 22:31:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,244
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7288681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cres/pseuds/Cres
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You finally get to move out of your shitty apartment into a lovely townhouse. Although Mark doesn't help you move that day like he promised to, everything's alright. He's going to make it up to you, and he's gonna smell good while doing so.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nautica Blue

There wasn’t enough time in the world to describe how tired I was. The afternoon that was now coming to an end had filled to the brim with moving boxes from point A to point B and dealing with gross LA traffic. The weather outside aided my exhaustion; as LA was picking up its summer temperatures. This morning it was a promising 80 degrees, only to rise to a 95 before mid-day. Finally, the evening was starting to waltz in with cooler temperatures, and the sun had set with its heat. I still had quite a few boxes left in the U-Haul I had rented, but I was too tired to bring them in. Especially since the last of the boxes were the heavier ones, the ones I had packed first.

I decided to head back to my new home, and lie on the floor; to soak in the air conditioning.

Lazily, I slumped to the marble tiling and sprawled out, assuming the position of a child making a snow angel. Or preferably and much more location accurate, a sand angel.

The distance between me and the ceiling was refreshing; my old apartment made me feel claustrophobic.

The walls had been painted a color I could only describe as condensed milk. That, paired with the pearl white marble tiling, made the entire house feel fresh and spacious. Like I had more room to breathe.

Suddenly, I felt a knock on my door.

Checking my phone for the time, I sighed with relief. It was just eight o'clock. I also saw a text but decided it'd be better to get the door first.

To my surprise, the knock on my front door had come from Mark.

"Hey, I'm sorry _. I was recording all day, and I didn't see your text till now." There he went, rambling before I could even wave, or give him an acknowledging smile. He ran his fingers through his hair and kept them at the back of his head, scratching lightly.

"Did anyone at all come by and help you?" He paused and looked over my shoulder.

"Or did you do all of that by yourself?" He finished, with a hint of sympathy in his voice.

"No one came by, it's fine, though. It hasn't been that much. I'm just waiting for some furniture, and the large boxes are still in the truck..."

Mark cut me off before I could continue.

"Do you want me to get those? Cause I can!"

"No no, it's alright. A little late anyways." I shrugged his offer off mostly because I wanted to get some shut-eye.

"Tomorrow I'm entirely free; I promise I'll be here."

I smiled in turn, trying to be as un-sarcastic as possible.

I made note of not scrunching up my nose and furrowing my brows in thought as I tried figuring out where I would sleep until my house was furnished.

Coincidentally, Mark picked up on that too.

"You don't have a bed, do you?"

I shook my head and tightened my grasp on the door handle. Waiting for the proposition, and knowing it was one I would place bets on.

"You can sleep over at my place for the next couple of days. Until you get situated."

I didn't bother arguing, and head in to show him what the house looked like so far, and to gather a quick sleepover bag to take with me.

While I was packing, Mark waltzed around the house quite a few times. He seemed to really like it. As he entered the master bedroom a fourth time, he came over to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"I really really like this place. It suits you better than your old apartment."

I nodded and pulled my duffle bag over my shoulder.

"I'm excited about it too." I yawned mid-sentence deeply.

The ride to Mark's was very quite and smooth. Traffic had died, and the city noises started to dwindle as we got closer to his neighborhood. He never played music while he was driving, claiming it gave him time to think. I kept falling asleep as we drew closer to his home.

Mark's house looked like that of a Tumblr-lurking sixteen-year old's bedroom. The couches in the living room had shopping bags and other miscellaneous items that weren't supposed to be on couches. He had draped the perimeter of the area in fairy lights, and the walls were adorned with pictures of his family and friends, in addition to the occasional poster.

I lazily slumped to the center of the room, setting my duffle bag on the floor and pulling my shoulders back into a stretch.  
Everything hurt.

Mark took my bag elsewhere and returned with a large Star Wars themed blanket.

"I thought we could watch a movie or something. I know you like the white noise and stuff."

I didn't protest.

After he was done clearing the largest couch, which just so happened to be closest to the television, he turned it on and began streaming The Iron Giant.

Shifting my body towards his, I reached and playfully tugged at his shirt collar.

"Are you trying to make me sad? You know how quickly this gets me."

He promptly asked if he wanted me to change it, his voice edging with concern.

"No no." I hushed him and mouthed quietly 'it's okay'.

It wasn't long until I had fallen asleep again. At one point Mark had begun running his hand gently through my hair. The warmth of his fingers felt as though it melding into my head, melting my thoughts to mush.

\---

I awoke very early the next day, and Mark was still sound asleep. His hands were still in my hair, but instead of him reaching for me like he had done last night, I was on his stomach. I turned my head a tiny bit, just enough to face the TV, and I noticed the remote was still in his other hand. As I took in a deep breath, I was enamored by the scent of Mark's cologne.  
It gave me goosebumps.

I couldn't remember the last time I had fallen asleep and then woken up relaxed.

I decided to just wait it out and not wake him up. He looked so serene. All his facial features had smoothed over, and he seemed like an adorable man-child.

To my surprise, he began to stir. Grunting a little as he straightened himself out, he let my head fall onto his lap and yawned fairly loudly.

"Good morning." The house was pleasantly quite. With Chica still asleep, Ryan and Matt having moved out, you could hear a pin drop. I whispered my greeting, and even still it felt out of place. Like it was an interruption.

He looked down at me, and I sat up so that we were facing each other.

"You're all mine for today, right?" I lowered my voice significantly, trying to savor the silence and keep it sacrosanct.

Mark made a face. Like he was confused, yet flushed. Then he remembered vowing himself to me last night.

"Yeah, I'm all yours." As he finished his sentence, he leaned his face into mine and gently bumped his forehead with mine.

\---

After a quick shower in his bathroom and a pleasant breakfast at a nearby Denny's, Mark took us back to my new place to finish moving the last boxes in.

I had rented the U-Haul for 3-days, expecting to take more things with me but I had ended up throwing away a lot from my old apartment. Now that I think about it, I'm surprised I kept so much.

After unlocking the padlock at the back of the truck, I left it slightly agape, just enough for me to fit it. From the inside, I was able to lift the door entirely.

Mark climbed in, and together we started moving the boxes. Deciding it was best not to leave the rest unattended as we moved them inside, Mark told me to stay with the truck, and that he'd move the boxes in by himself. I protested, but he insisted it was the least he could do.

There weren't that many of the boxes to begin with, so by noon, we were both already inside, moving the boxes to their corresponding rooms.

Although the task was menial, I couldn't function properly. For some reason, the scent of Mark's cologne had me stifled. I wanted nothing more than to stay as we had this morning. All wrapped up in each other like the platonic vines we've grown to become. Putting off wants is not my strong suit, and I was exceptionally horrendous at it when the thing I wanted was an arm's reach away.

"Hey, I can sleep over again tonight, right?" I asked in an attempt to get myself out of my head. Also remembering that these past few days I've been getting terrible anxiety before bed, except last night when I was with him.

"Of course." He hummed.

And that was that. The boxes were all set and even though I wanted to unpack a couple of things, I'd much rather spend the day sleeping. The curse of messing with my body's sleeping schedule, I was always tired and groggy.

The silverware and cutlery got unpacked and put away in no time. I looked over at Mark, who hadn't even broken a sweat. I leaned on the counter nearest to the sink at continued to stare at him as he put the last stack of white plates in one of the empty middle cabinets.

He took note of me staring and came over with an odd subtle look of concern.

"How do you feel?" As he said this, he cupped my left cheek and lowered his head enough to look me in the eyes.

"All the late night stuff has been killing me. I feel stupid tired right now." Right on cue, I felt the urge to yawn.

"Well, in that case, let's go return the truck and take you home. How does that sound?"

I nodded while rubbing my eyes, probably looking like a small child as I did so.

Mark kissed my forehead and kept his hand at the small of my waist until I got into the passenger seat of his car.

\---

I woke up in Mark's bed and unfortunately felt instantaneously tired again. I caught him across the room, with a plastic bin of what smelled like fresh laundry. His hair was ever as messy, and he was wearing a blue shirt that cut off at his shoulders, followed by a pair of black cargo pants. I groaned softly in hopes of attention, but he didn't hear me the first time. So I tried again, this time, louder.

I watched him from under my lashes as he set down the clothes and made his way over to me. Gently, he traced one of his hands up and down my side while whispering,

"You're about as subtle as an earthquake, ya know that?"

I tried not to laugh as I sat up. Instead of just sitting up, I leaned into him and sucked in a deep breath. There it was again.

I had no idea why it was having such an effect on me. He always wore it, his signature scent. But something as of recent compelled me to engulf myself in it. Maybe it was the stress of moving, or the lack of human interaction these past few weeks, or the fact that I was finally allowing myself to unconditionally and irrevocably fall in love with Mark. Maybe it was all three.

As I assessed my situation mentally, something slipped off my tongue without much of my notice.

"I love you more." Mark's whisper tickled my ears and warmed my chest.

This reassurance also came with a stroke of confidence. Meticulously, I lifted my head from his neck and peered into his soft brown eyes, as my hands traveled from his neck to his face.

He was smiling. Not wildly, not facetiously, and definitely not nervously. Mark was as sure as I was, if not, maybe more. His smile was akin to the soft, humble smile you share with yourself in intimate satisfaction. The self-praise of a job well done. The peaceful smile you give after you are completely sure that everything is okay and better than it has ever been before.

It made my stomach feel like the Big Bang.

I tilted his head to a bow, and kissed his forehead.

"You are the most beautiful thing I have ever had the pleasure of coming across on this Earth." I murmured, my lips brushed against his skin as I did so.

He gently grabbed my wrist and leveled his gaze with mine again.

Almost instantly I felt his lips against mine.

Everything made sense; nothing was wrong. I wasn't sad, and I wasn't tired.  
I wasn't worried about fixing things up in my home, or paying the mortgage.  
I didn't feel anxiety because of my job; I didn't think of all the things that could go wrong as I now lived on my own.  
I didn't obsess over the fact that I haven't been able to sleep well in over a month.

The neverending stream of consciousness and sempiternal connection of events and memories ceased.

Because for the first time in a long time, I was at peace.

I am happy.

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly, I don't know why my one-shots all consist of this weird revelation stuff. The one I made about Barry literally feels exactly the same as this, but whatever. If you enjoyed, I'm glad. I had fun writing this. It was a nice distraction from other current works in progress and summer work. I feel like I could add A LOT more to this, but for now, this is all I've got.


End file.
